|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, November 18, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
Calendar
11/23-11/25 Thanksgiving Holiday – School closed, no childcare
12/2 Silent Journey 6 pm
12/7 Auction meeting 5 pm
CODY’S SCHOOL BENEFIT DAZE 2005
Be sure to turn in your receipts from the Cody’s Book Daze fundraiser!
STAYING ON CAMPUS AFTER SIGNING OUT YOUR CHILD
We would like to encourage parents to volunteer and/or otherwise participate in after-care activities at GLM. This is a great opportunity for you to observe your child and see them in action on campus in the afternoon! You might read a book to a group of children, or assist children with a craft project you’ve created, or some other original activity that you can coordinate with the teachers.
We do request, however, that you pre-schedule your participation visit with the aftercare teachers for your class and that you do not sign your child out until you are physically leaving the campus.
We also request that if you have not pre-scheduled a visit with the aftercare teachers, that you promptly leave the campus after signing out your child. This helps not only the GLM teachers and staff, but also provides a clear, consistent message to your child about pick-up time.
In this way, we can avoid the liability issues that accompany having children on campus after they have been released to their parent’s care by signing out.
Please feel free to contact the office should you have any questions.
OFFICE NEWS
-If you are planning to use Holiday Break (December 19-29) childcare, the registration form is due Friday, November 18. The office has had many requests for vacation time during Holiday Break from the staff—we cannot guarantee space for your child after Friday.
-The December childcare calendar is due November 18.
-Some of you have received notices concerning missing forms and/or missing immunizations. WE MUST HAVE THESE TURNED INTO THE OFFICE ASAP!!!!!!
-The Dec. 2nd Silent Journey is filling up fast; there are only a couple of spaces left.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
(THANK YOU TO HEATHER HOOD)
GLM will begin putting information gathered by Heather Hood, and others who participate in a Chetwood St., Mariposa, Vernon, and Santa Rosa Ave. Neighborhood Emergency Committee in the weekly newsletter.
After a major emergency, you should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours, without electricity, gas, running water or telephones.
- Water - 3 gallons of water per person. Store water in airtight containers and replace every six months. Keep iodine tablets or chlorine bleach, eight drops per gallon, to purify water.
- Food - Non-perishable food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, such as:
Canned meats, fruits, vegetables, juices, milk and soup.
High energy foods such as peanut butter and jelly, crackers, granola bars, energy bars, trail mix and nuts.
Comfort foods such as cookies, hard candy, cereal, coffee, tea.
Powdered or single-serve drinks.
Packaged condiments: Store food in airtight, sealed plastic or metal containers and keep in a dark, cool place.
GLM COMPUTER NETWORKING
On the technology front, GLM is in the process of installing a campus-wide network and wiring all of the classrooms and offices. This will connect all of the buildings and enable all of the computers on campus to share files, printers and access to the Internet. Completion is expected in mid-December.
NEXT TUFF TUMBLERS CLASSES
Classes for the new sessions are as follows:
Wednesday class will begin on Dec. 7, and will run on Dec. 14, Jan. 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Friday classes will begin on Dec. 16th, and run on Jan. 6, 20, 27, Feb. 3, and 10.
Tuff Tumblers is on a first-come, first-served basis, therefore there are no refunds.
Children are scheduled according to age and ability. We cannot promise to hold spaces or to schedule your child in a requested time slot.
Please submit your registration form as soon as possible.
Please note: Parents will be charged for childcare after 3 pm for children participating in Tuff Tumblers.
KITTENS FOUND – NEED FOSTERING OR ADOPTING
Ms. Mc Clindon found 2 very young kittens under her house. She has taken them to the vet for check-ups. Both kittens (a male and a female) are parasite-free, but have eye infections they are being treated for. They need foster care while Ms. Mc Clindon is away during Thanksgiving, and ultimately, adoption. Please contact Ms. Mc Clindon in the Ginkgo classroom if you are interested.
GLM FAMILY HAS WONDERFUL NANNY TO SHARE
The Wu-Adarkar family (Ginkgo) currently has a wonderful nanny named Tsige caring for their 7-month old daughter M-F 8:00-12:30. We have known her for over 6 years, and she is extremely affectionate, loving, patient, and organized. Tsige speaks, reads, and writes English fluently, is CPR certified, and has a driver’s license, her own car, and a cell phone.
We are looking for a family who is interested in a share situation at our home for at least a few days a week and for any portion of time from 8:00 – 2:30. We live in Piedmont very close to several parks, where our nanny could bring the children to play and socialize with other children everyday. If you are interested, please contact the school office for more information.
SOUND OF THE WEEK GLM will be closed next Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving. The Sound of the Week for the following week (Nov. 30) will be “K”, as in Kangaroo, Kick, and King.
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The children watched a slide show this week about the Andes Mountains. We saw slides of the town of Chinchero and their Sunday market. Chinchero was actually built on Incan ruins. In the Andes Mountains the indigenous people of a particular region have their own distinctive hats that they wear. There are also very distinct ways of dressing depending on the region that they are from.
The children learned that the ancient Andeans were actually farmers and herders. They weren't introduced to cattle, horses, sheep, wheat and barley until the arrival of the Spanish. Many of the people that are living in the Andes Mountains today are living in the traditional ways of their ancestors!
The children enjoyed a wonderful performance this week at Calvin Simmons Theater of “Pinocchio”. It was a delightful musical adaptation of the favored children's classic.
We made sushi for lunch this week with Diana Fong. The children each received a sushi mat and chopsticks to take home. We took lots of pictures of the children making sushi. It takes real skill to roll the sushi tight enough to make it stay together. The children had a great time! Thank you so much Diana!
JACARANDA
Conferences continue through Thursday this week. Thanks for your questions and your valuable input during the conferences with Ms. Leck.
The Jacaranda Thanksgiving celebration is next Tuesday. Please see the sheet with each family's designated contribution for the feast. On this day we line up tables to form a long table, light candles, and celebrate our time together. This feast is for the children only. We have all the help that we need from parents; thank you to our many volunteers.
The specialists who work with the Jacaranda class every week have visited again this week: Mr. Hoffman singing songs on Tuesday morning, Mr. Moody for movement on Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Basom with Clay Studio throughout the week on the yard, and Tuff Tumblers on Wednesday or Friday by signup.
On our morning walks, the main focus is movement, but also to train the senses, so we touch, smell, and listen to the plants on the yard. The younger children looked for the different kinds of vines that grow around the campus, and talked about the differences between vines, bushes, and trees; and on another day, we walked around the yard quietly so as to better hear the many different kinds of birds, training the ear.
During the afternoon, after reading about how biologists called "bearologists" follow and study grizzly bears around Yellowstone in Montana, one of the children later that afternoon said that she and her friends were studying snails, so they were "snailologists"!
JUNIPER
The children in Juniper decided to make Stone Soup for their Thanksgiving Feast. They got the idea from a popular European folk tale that is told differently in many different countries, but each version ends with the realization that when each person makes a small contribution, the collective impact can be huge.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Juniper teachers would like to give thanks for everyone in the GLM community, particularly for the wonderful children and all of their parents!
LIVE OAK
Conferences are rolling along this week. Thank you all for taking the time and sharing with me the wonderful insights you have about your children. These times are so special to me and they really help me out in the classroom.
We are busy learning leaf shapes this week. The children have made beautiful leaf wreaths that are decorating our walls for Thanksgiving.
Work is awesome! At any given moment there is map building, word building, polishing, number counting, of course snack, reading phonetic labels for the classroom and, don’t forget the spontaneous singing which our class is known for!
Thank you all for bringing in the items needed for our feast next week. As I share the story of Thanksgiving with the children we also reflect on what we are thankful for. Your children are very grateful for you, their homes, their siblings and their animals.
Please give them a moment to speak their thanks next Thursday if you celebrate. I am thankful for the opportunity to teach and be with your children during these most precious years.
GINKGO
The children loved talking about the different things they did over the recent the three-day weekend.
The class came together and made a shopping list of things we would need for our Thanksgiving Feast. Notes went home in the children’s lunchboxes of things they want to bring. Some items have already arrived! Thank you!
Thank you to Joanne Yoshimura, Ben's mom, for coming in and making Thanksgiving place mats with the children.
For Sound of the Week, "J", the children brought in Jell-o, Jewelry, Jar, and Jig-saw puzzle. Some of the children thought to go around the classroom and look for things that begin with "J". Another child came up with names that have the sound and wrote them down: Jill, Jane, and Jack, to name a few.
Have a wonderful weekend!
MAGNOLIA
Congratulations to the Hayes’ family. They just had a new baby girl named Myra!
We’ve been preparing for our annual Thanksgiving feast. The children made their placemats already. They are very excited about making Stone Soup and quesadillas.
We would like to remind parents to bring their items for the feast by Monday morning.
Thank you to all the parent volunteers for making this holiday celebration successful!
Thank you, also, to all the parents who did their observations and conferences. We appreciate your dedicated involvement in your child’s education.
MULBERRY
Please welcome Luke Damon and his parents, Andrew Damon and Vanessa Cahill, to the Mulberry class.
This week the Sound of the Week was the letter “J”. The children enjoyed eating Jell-o that Ethan F. brought in. We also made orange juice to drink. I would like to encourage parents to bring an item from home that starts with the sound of the week. The parent observations have been going well. Some of the children really hammed it up! If you have questions about your observations bring them to your parent teacher conferences so we can talk about them. If you haven't signed up for a conference yet, please do. The sign up is on the clipboard and I ask that you sign up for a time both parents can come.
Next Tuesday we will be having our Thanksgiving Feast with Camellia. Each child was given a note that indicates what item they were asked to contribute for the feast. If you haven't gotten it check your parent pocket. Our menu is:
Lasagna, Chicken Wings, Garlic Bread, Green Salad and Banana Pudding. The children will be doing all the food preparation. They will make homemade butter, grate cheese, cut vegetables, assemble the lasagna and make the pudding.
CAMELLIA
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we are planning for our feast with the Mulberry children on November 22, 2005. As you know, we have sent notices out for each child to bring something in for the feast. If you have any questions please feel free to talk to Mr. Tien or Mrs. Aima.
Thank you to Clementine's mom, Jennifer, for coming in to do planting with the kids. They planted broccoli, strawberries, and green leaf lettuce. They enjoy watering them everyday. One child said, “Yes, plants need to drink water”. Thank you to Jacob's mom, Allison, for building a wonderful bird feeder with the kids. They put yummy soy butter on pinecones and then put seeds in the butter. Lucky birds!
Reminder: School starts at 8:45 a.m. If you are late, please ask a teacher if you need help saying goodbye, and please use the kitchen for entry and exit.
Calendar
11/23-11/25 Thanksgiving Holiday – School closed, no childcare
12/2 Silent Journey 6 pm
12/7 Auction meeting 5 pm
CODY’S SCHOOL BENEFIT DAZE 2005
Be sure to turn in your receipts from the Cody’s Book Daze fundraiser!
STAYING ON CAMPUS AFTER SIGNING OUT YOUR CHILD
We would like to encourage parents to volunteer and/or otherwise participate in after-care activities at GLM. This is a great opportunity for you to observe your child and see them in action on campus in the afternoon! You might read a book to a group of children, or assist children with a craft project you’ve created, or some other original activity that you can coordinate with the teachers.
We do request, however, that you pre-schedule your participation visit with the aftercare teachers for your class and that you do not sign your child out until you are physically leaving the campus.
We also request that if you have not pre-scheduled a visit with the aftercare teachers, that you promptly leave the campus after signing out your child. This helps not only the GLM teachers and staff, but also provides a clear, consistent message to your child about pick-up time.
In this way, we can avoid the liability issues that accompany having children on campus after they have been released to their parent’s care by signing out.
Please feel free to contact the office should you have any questions.
OFFICE NEWS
-If you are planning to use Holiday Break (December 19-29) childcare, the registration form is due Friday, November 18. The office has had many requests for vacation time during Holiday Break from the staff—we cannot guarantee space for your child after Friday.
-The December childcare calendar is due November 18.
-Some of you have received notices concerning missing forms and/or missing immunizations. WE MUST HAVE THESE TURNED INTO THE OFFICE ASAP!!!!!!
-The Dec. 2nd Silent Journey is filling up fast; there are only a couple of spaces left.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
(THANK YOU TO HEATHER HOOD)
GLM will begin putting information gathered by Heather Hood, and others who participate in a Chetwood St., Mariposa, Vernon, and Santa Rosa Ave. Neighborhood Emergency Committee in the weekly newsletter.
After a major emergency, you should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours, without electricity, gas, running water or telephones.
- Water - 3 gallons of water per person. Store water in airtight containers and replace every six months. Keep iodine tablets or chlorine bleach, eight drops per gallon, to purify water.
- Food - Non-perishable food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, such as:
Canned meats, fruits, vegetables, juices, milk and soup.
High energy foods such as peanut butter and jelly, crackers, granola bars, energy bars, trail mix and nuts.
Comfort foods such as cookies, hard candy, cereal, coffee, tea.
Powdered or single-serve drinks.
Packaged condiments: Store food in airtight, sealed plastic or metal containers and keep in a dark, cool place.
GLM COMPUTER NETWORKING
On the technology front, GLM is in the process of installing a campus-wide network and wiring all of the classrooms and offices. This will connect all of the buildings and enable all of the computers on campus to share files, printers and access to the Internet. Completion is expected in mid-December.
NEXT TUFF TUMBLERS CLASSES
Classes for the new sessions are as follows:
Wednesday class will begin on Dec. 7, and will run on Dec. 14, Jan. 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Friday classes will begin on Dec. 16th, and run on Jan. 6, 20, 27, Feb. 3, and 10.
Tuff Tumblers is on a first-come, first-served basis, therefore there are no refunds.
Children are scheduled according to age and ability. We cannot promise to hold spaces or to schedule your child in a requested time slot.
Please submit your registration form as soon as possible.
Please note: Parents will be charged for childcare after 3 pm for children participating in Tuff Tumblers.
KITTENS FOUND – NEED FOSTERING OR ADOPTING
Ms. Mc Clindon found 2 very young kittens under her house. She has taken them to the vet for check-ups. Both kittens (a male and a female) are parasite-free, but have eye infections they are being treated for. They need foster care while Ms. Mc Clindon is away during Thanksgiving, and ultimately, adoption. Please contact Ms. Mc Clindon in the Ginkgo classroom if you are interested.
GLM FAMILY HAS WONDERFUL NANNY TO SHARE
The Wu-Adarkar family (Ginkgo) currently has a wonderful nanny named Tsige caring for their 7-month old daughter M-F 8:00-12:30. We have known her for over 6 years, and she is extremely affectionate, loving, patient, and organized. Tsige speaks, reads, and writes English fluently, is CPR certified, and has a driver’s license, her own car, and a cell phone.
We are looking for a family who is interested in a share situation at our home for at least a few days a week and for any portion of time from 8:00 – 2:30. We live in Piedmont very close to several parks, where our nanny could bring the children to play and socialize with other children everyday. If you are interested, please contact the school office for more information.
SOUND OF THE WEEK GLM will be closed next Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving. The Sound of the Week for the following week (Nov. 30) will be “K”, as in Kangaroo, Kick, and King.
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The children watched a slide show this week about the Andes Mountains. We saw slides of the town of Chinchero and their Sunday market. Chinchero was actually built on Incan ruins. In the Andes Mountains the indigenous people of a particular region have their own distinctive hats that they wear. There are also very distinct ways of dressing depending on the region that they are from.
The children learned that the ancient Andeans were actually farmers and herders. They weren't introduced to cattle, horses, sheep, wheat and barley until the arrival of the Spanish. Many of the people that are living in the Andes Mountains today are living in the traditional ways of their ancestors!
The children enjoyed a wonderful performance this week at Calvin Simmons Theater of “Pinocchio”. It was a delightful musical adaptation of the favored children's classic.
We made sushi for lunch this week with Diana Fong. The children each received a sushi mat and chopsticks to take home. We took lots of pictures of the children making sushi. It takes real skill to roll the sushi tight enough to make it stay together. The children had a great time! Thank you so much Diana!
JACARANDA
Conferences continue through Thursday this week. Thanks for your questions and your valuable input during the conferences with Ms. Leck.
The Jacaranda Thanksgiving celebration is next Tuesday. Please see the sheet with each family's designated contribution for the feast. On this day we line up tables to form a long table, light candles, and celebrate our time together. This feast is for the children only. We have all the help that we need from parents; thank you to our many volunteers.
The specialists who work with the Jacaranda class every week have visited again this week: Mr. Hoffman singing songs on Tuesday morning, Mr. Moody for movement on Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Basom with Clay Studio throughout the week on the yard, and Tuff Tumblers on Wednesday or Friday by signup.
On our morning walks, the main focus is movement, but also to train the senses, so we touch, smell, and listen to the plants on the yard. The younger children looked for the different kinds of vines that grow around the campus, and talked about the differences between vines, bushes, and trees; and on another day, we walked around the yard quietly so as to better hear the many different kinds of birds, training the ear.
During the afternoon, after reading about how biologists called "bearologists" follow and study grizzly bears around Yellowstone in Montana, one of the children later that afternoon said that she and her friends were studying snails, so they were "snailologists"!
JUNIPER
The children in Juniper decided to make Stone Soup for their Thanksgiving Feast. They got the idea from a popular European folk tale that is told differently in many different countries, but each version ends with the realization that when each person makes a small contribution, the collective impact can be huge.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Juniper teachers would like to give thanks for everyone in the GLM community, particularly for the wonderful children and all of their parents!
LIVE OAK
Conferences are rolling along this week. Thank you all for taking the time and sharing with me the wonderful insights you have about your children. These times are so special to me and they really help me out in the classroom.
We are busy learning leaf shapes this week. The children have made beautiful leaf wreaths that are decorating our walls for Thanksgiving.
Work is awesome! At any given moment there is map building, word building, polishing, number counting, of course snack, reading phonetic labels for the classroom and, don’t forget the spontaneous singing which our class is known for!
Thank you all for bringing in the items needed for our feast next week. As I share the story of Thanksgiving with the children we also reflect on what we are thankful for. Your children are very grateful for you, their homes, their siblings and their animals.
Please give them a moment to speak their thanks next Thursday if you celebrate. I am thankful for the opportunity to teach and be with your children during these most precious years.
GINKGO
The children loved talking about the different things they did over the recent the three-day weekend.
The class came together and made a shopping list of things we would need for our Thanksgiving Feast. Notes went home in the children’s lunchboxes of things they want to bring. Some items have already arrived! Thank you!
Thank you to Joanne Yoshimura, Ben's mom, for coming in and making Thanksgiving place mats with the children.
For Sound of the Week, "J", the children brought in Jell-o, Jewelry, Jar, and Jig-saw puzzle. Some of the children thought to go around the classroom and look for things that begin with "J". Another child came up with names that have the sound and wrote them down: Jill, Jane, and Jack, to name a few.
Have a wonderful weekend!
MAGNOLIA
Congratulations to the Hayes’ family. They just had a new baby girl named Myra!
We’ve been preparing for our annual Thanksgiving feast. The children made their placemats already. They are very excited about making Stone Soup and quesadillas.
We would like to remind parents to bring their items for the feast by Monday morning.
Thank you to all the parent volunteers for making this holiday celebration successful!
Thank you, also, to all the parents who did their observations and conferences. We appreciate your dedicated involvement in your child’s education.
MULBERRY
Please welcome Luke Damon and his parents, Andrew Damon and Vanessa Cahill, to the Mulberry class.
This week the Sound of the Week was the letter “J”. The children enjoyed eating Jell-o that Ethan F. brought in. We also made orange juice to drink. I would like to encourage parents to bring an item from home that starts with the sound of the week. The parent observations have been going well. Some of the children really hammed it up! If you have questions about your observations bring them to your parent teacher conferences so we can talk about them. If you haven't signed up for a conference yet, please do. The sign up is on the clipboard and I ask that you sign up for a time both parents can come.
Next Tuesday we will be having our Thanksgiving Feast with Camellia. Each child was given a note that indicates what item they were asked to contribute for the feast. If you haven't gotten it check your parent pocket. Our menu is:
Lasagna, Chicken Wings, Garlic Bread, Green Salad and Banana Pudding. The children will be doing all the food preparation. They will make homemade butter, grate cheese, cut vegetables, assemble the lasagna and make the pudding.
CAMELLIA
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we are planning for our feast with the Mulberry children on November 22, 2005. As you know, we have sent notices out for each child to bring something in for the feast. If you have any questions please feel free to talk to Mr. Tien or Mrs. Aima.
Thank you to Clementine's mom, Jennifer, for coming in to do planting with the kids. They planted broccoli, strawberries, and green leaf lettuce. They enjoy watering them everyday. One child said, “Yes, plants need to drink water”. Thank you to Jacob's mom, Allison, for building a wonderful bird feeder with the kids. They put yummy soy butter on pinecones and then put seeds in the butter. Lucky birds!
Reminder: School starts at 8:45 a.m. If you are late, please ask a teacher if you need help saying goodbye, and please use the kitchen for entry and exit.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Friday, Nov. 11, 2005
Calendar
11/11 Veteran’s Day – School closed, no childcare
11/11 – 11/14 Cody’s School Benefit Daze 2005
11/15 Auction meeting 5 pm in Helen Campbell’s house
11/23-11/25 Thanksgiving Holiday – School closed, no childcare
12/2 Silent Journey 6 pm
CODY’S SCHOOL BENEFIT DAZE 2005
Nov. 11 – 14 Cody’s Books will host their annual school benefit. Cody’s designates 4 shopping days at their 3 Bay Area stores and via the website to benefit schools, both public and private. In a nutshell: books bought, receipts collected, receipts submitted, check/credit sent! Buy books, magazines, journals, calendars, stationary and cards, special orders, and Internet orders, turn the receipts in to the school office and Cody’s writes a commission check as follows:
15% of net sales in cash, or 25% of net sales in store credit for the school.
This is a great opportunity to do your gift and holiday buying and help raise money for GLM!
GLM PLANS FOR ELEMENTARY EXPANSION
As GLM enters its 28th year, the school is embarking on a 3-year plan to increase its elementary class. The total for the toddler students remains at 28, and the preschool-kindergarten number of students ranges from 125-140 annually. With the construction of the new facilities of Jacaranda and Juniper, GLM has increased the number of kindergarten age students (3rd year students) significantly. GLM has five preschool-kindergarten age classrooms: Jacaranda, Juniper, Magnolia, Live Oak and Ginkgo. Over the next 3 years the School would like to see the first grade entries increase to 8-10 students yearly. By 2010 the elementary will be 50-60 students. If more families choose a Montessori education for the elementary years, the school could expand to two 6-9 years classrooms, as well as upper elementary 4th-6th grades by renovating the duplex at 474 Chetwood (in front of the Brown Cottage).
The elementary class make-up will always be designed around a 3 year mixed age and emphasize peer teaching with a Montessori trained teacher and an intern teacher. It continues the community of learners and school neighborhood that you have chosen for your child thus far. We invite you to attend a “Silent Journey” hosted by GLM teachers, observe the elementary classroom established in 1988, and talk to elementary parents and to your children’s primary teachers during conferences.
SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “J”, as in Juniper, Jewelry, and Jungle.
SILENT JOURNEY RESCHEDULED
The cancelled Silent Journey has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, at 6 pm. If you’d like to attend this evening of Montessori, please contact the office ASAP as these events often fill up very quickly.
AUCTION DATE CHANGED TO APRIL 22, 2006
Please mark your calendars for the Wine & Cheese Tasting and Auction. Once again, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosted at Sequoyah Country Club by Cestra and Teresa Butner. More details to come in the weeks ahead!
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The children had a great trip to the library today. We did have an "incident" that happened. The children had finished eating and many had chosen to throw away their food. Well, once the children had begun playing a homeless gentleman came and took the uneaten food out of the garbage. He then, proceeded to eat it. A few of the children began to say, "Oooh, look..." I quickly responded with, "Imagine how hungry he must be to take food out of the garbage and eat it!" The children got really quiet and I could tell that it was an issue that they were struggling with. One child even took out their uneaten apple and with our help, offered it to the man.
It is really important that the children develop an empathy and understanding for people who are less fortunate. If we do not help the children by having them put themselves in someone else's position now and at this age, the age in which they are interested in social justice, then when they become teenagers, the age of egotism, they will not have the ability to really see themselves being in a position of need. I am really committed to the children understanding that little things can help so much and realizing how truly fortunate they are.
The lower elementary students have been studying the Amazon rainforest. They are learning about the interdependence among the plants, animals and indigenous people. The 6 years are further studying the Declaration of Independence and have decided to translate it into terms that children can more readily understand. They are also doing research on heroines of the American Revolution.
Congratulations to Nacalah, Clare and Charlie for mastering dividing whole numbers by fractions on paper!
Congratulations to Zoe, Kai, and Angelina for completing the work on verbs and moving on to prepositions!
JACARANDA
Please find in parent cubbies a Pre-Conference Communication form, which better prepares Ms. Leck for the upcoming thirty-minute conferences. The sooner, and more thoroughly, the form is filled out, the more you will get out of your child's conference.
This is the time of year when the Gingko tree outside the Jacaranda classroom drops its fruits, and you have probably noticed that they have a really strong (unpleasant) odor. Soon they will have left the tree and the smell, too, will go.
Elementary student, Nacalah Gilliam, came to read a book to our class this week. The Jacaranda children so enjoyed the visit and storytelling they talked Nacalah into reading 5 more books! Nacalah is thinking she would like to become a teacher.
Remember that the school is closed Friday, November 11, 2005, for Veteran's Day.
Remember also, the different enrichment activities available to your children at school: art, music, movement and gymnastics. The art program and the gymnastics program are by sign up only, and if you are interested please call or email the office.
JUNIPER
Due to the change in weather and the time change, the all day children have been coming in to the classroom at 4:00 p.m. for the remainder of the day. Much to the delight of the teachers, these two hours in the afternoon are consistently filled with focused and prolonged work by the children. They are asking for lessons, collaborating on materials and concentrating for long periods of time. In addition, this time is making it possible for children to engage in works that, due to complexity and the amount of time involved, are somewhat more difficult to pursue during the first part of the day. What a joy it is to watch these young minds fully engaged, even at the end of the day!
"If we are to reach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with children." - Gandhi
Don't forget, November is American Indian Heritage Month!
LIVE OAK
Short week this week, and super extra busy! We have really enjoyed having you come visit the classroom and get a feeling for a typical morning. It helps your child feel very special as well. I hope you enjoyed seeing all the wonderful work and fun things your child does at school. Please fill out and turn in the pre-conference forms found in your parent folder. Because we have short time for the conferences these questions help expedite the meeting.
Our Thanksgiving feast is approaching. Watch for sign-up sheets about what to bring and when we need it. It will be a lot of fun. Please talk to your children about this holiday and our special feast. I would like all the children to have a basic understanding of what it is to be thankful for something.
We continue our USA study. The older children are learning the names of the states. We are also looking at a few of the Native American tribes and how they lived. This begins another level of looking at the fundamental needs. We limit it to food, houses, clothing and tools but the children love it very much.
We are also looking at leaf shapes. For Monday I would really love it if each child could bring in 3-5 different leaf shapes to label. To preserve a leaf, rub it with oil (vegetable or olive) and place a book on top of it overnight. It will be perfect for our use.
GINKGO
Tuesday was Election Day! Not only for the state of California. but for the Ginkgo classroom. Marni Hunter created ballots for the children to vote whether they liked a tiger or lion. The children voted for the tiger! Then Marni gave the class a stuffed tiger. Thank you, Marni!
We also had another issue for the children to vote for, our Thanksgiving Feast! The children were asked to choose the main course for our meal; spaghetti, quesadilla's, or personal pizzas. The winner - personal pizzas! The children will make their own pizzas and will prepare healthy side dishes and a desert. The teachers and children will prepare a shopping list and the children will decide what they want to shop for in preparation for the feast. Notes will go home in the children's lunchboxes next week regarding what items they are asked to bring.
MAGNOLIA
A big Happy Birthday to Ms. Santiago! The children all sang “Happy Birthday” to her and we shared a yummy bagel snack.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help with our Friendship Feast. We now have all the help we need. Next week we will be reading the book " Stone Soup". This is a story about a village whos residents get together and each member contributes a food item to make a delicious soup. We will be making our own stone soup for our feast. Each Magnolia child will be asked to bring in a food item for the feast. Ms. Olivares will send a note home in your child’s lunch box letting you know what item he or she is asked to bring.
Conferences begin next Wednesday; if you haven’t signed-up yet, please do so!
MULBERRY
The wind and rain have dropped lots of pine needles onto the Mulberry playground so the children have been enjoying raking the needles up. After they rake a pile of needles they get to fill the bucket. Parent observations begin tomorrow. All parents are encouraged to observe prior to parent-teacher conferences. The sign-up sheet is on the clipboard. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to see what their child does in class. On Tuesday Crystal, from the elementary class, came in and read an alphabet book to the toddlers. Then, Chiara asked her to read “Three Billie Goats Gruff” and she agreed to stay and read the story.
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, we will be having a Thanksgiving feast with the Camellia class. The children will prepare all the food. It will not be your “traditional” feast of turkey and stuffing. The children will be making homemade lasagna among other items. Next week we will have the menu completed and each child will be asked to bring in one of the ingredients for the feast. Song of the week:
He's got the whole world in his hands.
She's got the whole world in her hands.
He's got the whole world in his hands.
She's got the whole world in her hands.
He's got you and me brother in his hand.
She's got you and me sister in her hands.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.
CAMELLIA
Thank you to all the parents who came for observations. Remember, after your observation comes the conference. There is a sign-up sheet on the clipboard.
As you no doubt have noticed the weather is getting very cold so please dress your child in warm clothing. The rains have also begun. If your child has rain boots or a raincoat at school please label them. School policy prohibits umbrellas.
Mulberry and Camellia are planning our annual Thanksgiving feast. The children will prepare the meal they will enjoy. Please check for notices regarding your child’s contribution for the feast.
Reminder: November 11, 2005 (Friday) school is closed for Veteran’s Day.
Please continue to encourage your child to bring something for Sound of the Week.
Calendar
11/11 Veteran’s Day – School closed, no childcare
11/11 – 11/14 Cody’s School Benefit Daze 2005
11/15 Auction meeting 5 pm in Helen Campbell’s house
11/23-11/25 Thanksgiving Holiday – School closed, no childcare
12/2 Silent Journey 6 pm
CODY’S SCHOOL BENEFIT DAZE 2005
Nov. 11 – 14 Cody’s Books will host their annual school benefit. Cody’s designates 4 shopping days at their 3 Bay Area stores and via the website to benefit schools, both public and private. In a nutshell: books bought, receipts collected, receipts submitted, check/credit sent! Buy books, magazines, journals, calendars, stationary and cards, special orders, and Internet orders, turn the receipts in to the school office and Cody’s writes a commission check as follows:
15% of net sales in cash, or 25% of net sales in store credit for the school.
This is a great opportunity to do your gift and holiday buying and help raise money for GLM!
GLM PLANS FOR ELEMENTARY EXPANSION
As GLM enters its 28th year, the school is embarking on a 3-year plan to increase its elementary class. The total for the toddler students remains at 28, and the preschool-kindergarten number of students ranges from 125-140 annually. With the construction of the new facilities of Jacaranda and Juniper, GLM has increased the number of kindergarten age students (3rd year students) significantly. GLM has five preschool-kindergarten age classrooms: Jacaranda, Juniper, Magnolia, Live Oak and Ginkgo. Over the next 3 years the School would like to see the first grade entries increase to 8-10 students yearly. By 2010 the elementary will be 50-60 students. If more families choose a Montessori education for the elementary years, the school could expand to two 6-9 years classrooms, as well as upper elementary 4th-6th grades by renovating the duplex at 474 Chetwood (in front of the Brown Cottage).
The elementary class make-up will always be designed around a 3 year mixed age and emphasize peer teaching with a Montessori trained teacher and an intern teacher. It continues the community of learners and school neighborhood that you have chosen for your child thus far. We invite you to attend a “Silent Journey” hosted by GLM teachers, observe the elementary classroom established in 1988, and talk to elementary parents and to your children’s primary teachers during conferences.
SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “J”, as in Juniper, Jewelry, and Jungle.
SILENT JOURNEY RESCHEDULED
The cancelled Silent Journey has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, at 6 pm. If you’d like to attend this evening of Montessori, please contact the office ASAP as these events often fill up very quickly.
AUCTION DATE CHANGED TO APRIL 22, 2006
Please mark your calendars for the Wine & Cheese Tasting and Auction. Once again, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosted at Sequoyah Country Club by Cestra and Teresa Butner. More details to come in the weeks ahead!
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The children had a great trip to the library today. We did have an "incident" that happened. The children had finished eating and many had chosen to throw away their food. Well, once the children had begun playing a homeless gentleman came and took the uneaten food out of the garbage. He then, proceeded to eat it. A few of the children began to say, "Oooh, look..." I quickly responded with, "Imagine how hungry he must be to take food out of the garbage and eat it!" The children got really quiet and I could tell that it was an issue that they were struggling with. One child even took out their uneaten apple and with our help, offered it to the man.
It is really important that the children develop an empathy and understanding for people who are less fortunate. If we do not help the children by having them put themselves in someone else's position now and at this age, the age in which they are interested in social justice, then when they become teenagers, the age of egotism, they will not have the ability to really see themselves being in a position of need. I am really committed to the children understanding that little things can help so much and realizing how truly fortunate they are.
The lower elementary students have been studying the Amazon rainforest. They are learning about the interdependence among the plants, animals and indigenous people. The 6 years are further studying the Declaration of Independence and have decided to translate it into terms that children can more readily understand. They are also doing research on heroines of the American Revolution.
Congratulations to Nacalah, Clare and Charlie for mastering dividing whole numbers by fractions on paper!
Congratulations to Zoe, Kai, and Angelina for completing the work on verbs and moving on to prepositions!
JACARANDA
Please find in parent cubbies a Pre-Conference Communication form, which better prepares Ms. Leck for the upcoming thirty-minute conferences. The sooner, and more thoroughly, the form is filled out, the more you will get out of your child's conference.
This is the time of year when the Gingko tree outside the Jacaranda classroom drops its fruits, and you have probably noticed that they have a really strong (unpleasant) odor. Soon they will have left the tree and the smell, too, will go.
Elementary student, Nacalah Gilliam, came to read a book to our class this week. The Jacaranda children so enjoyed the visit and storytelling they talked Nacalah into reading 5 more books! Nacalah is thinking she would like to become a teacher.
Remember that the school is closed Friday, November 11, 2005, for Veteran's Day.
Remember also, the different enrichment activities available to your children at school: art, music, movement and gymnastics. The art program and the gymnastics program are by sign up only, and if you are interested please call or email the office.
JUNIPER
Due to the change in weather and the time change, the all day children have been coming in to the classroom at 4:00 p.m. for the remainder of the day. Much to the delight of the teachers, these two hours in the afternoon are consistently filled with focused and prolonged work by the children. They are asking for lessons, collaborating on materials and concentrating for long periods of time. In addition, this time is making it possible for children to engage in works that, due to complexity and the amount of time involved, are somewhat more difficult to pursue during the first part of the day. What a joy it is to watch these young minds fully engaged, even at the end of the day!
"If we are to reach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with children." - Gandhi
Don't forget, November is American Indian Heritage Month!
LIVE OAK
Short week this week, and super extra busy! We have really enjoyed having you come visit the classroom and get a feeling for a typical morning. It helps your child feel very special as well. I hope you enjoyed seeing all the wonderful work and fun things your child does at school. Please fill out and turn in the pre-conference forms found in your parent folder. Because we have short time for the conferences these questions help expedite the meeting.
Our Thanksgiving feast is approaching. Watch for sign-up sheets about what to bring and when we need it. It will be a lot of fun. Please talk to your children about this holiday and our special feast. I would like all the children to have a basic understanding of what it is to be thankful for something.
We continue our USA study. The older children are learning the names of the states. We are also looking at a few of the Native American tribes and how they lived. This begins another level of looking at the fundamental needs. We limit it to food, houses, clothing and tools but the children love it very much.
We are also looking at leaf shapes. For Monday I would really love it if each child could bring in 3-5 different leaf shapes to label. To preserve a leaf, rub it with oil (vegetable or olive) and place a book on top of it overnight. It will be perfect for our use.
GINKGO
Tuesday was Election Day! Not only for the state of California. but for the Ginkgo classroom. Marni Hunter created ballots for the children to vote whether they liked a tiger or lion. The children voted for the tiger! Then Marni gave the class a stuffed tiger. Thank you, Marni!
We also had another issue for the children to vote for, our Thanksgiving Feast! The children were asked to choose the main course for our meal; spaghetti, quesadilla's, or personal pizzas. The winner - personal pizzas! The children will make their own pizzas and will prepare healthy side dishes and a desert. The teachers and children will prepare a shopping list and the children will decide what they want to shop for in preparation for the feast. Notes will go home in the children's lunchboxes next week regarding what items they are asked to bring.
MAGNOLIA
A big Happy Birthday to Ms. Santiago! The children all sang “Happy Birthday” to her and we shared a yummy bagel snack.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help with our Friendship Feast. We now have all the help we need. Next week we will be reading the book " Stone Soup". This is a story about a village whos residents get together and each member contributes a food item to make a delicious soup. We will be making our own stone soup for our feast. Each Magnolia child will be asked to bring in a food item for the feast. Ms. Olivares will send a note home in your child’s lunch box letting you know what item he or she is asked to bring.
Conferences begin next Wednesday; if you haven’t signed-up yet, please do so!
MULBERRY
The wind and rain have dropped lots of pine needles onto the Mulberry playground so the children have been enjoying raking the needles up. After they rake a pile of needles they get to fill the bucket. Parent observations begin tomorrow. All parents are encouraged to observe prior to parent-teacher conferences. The sign-up sheet is on the clipboard. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to see what their child does in class. On Tuesday Crystal, from the elementary class, came in and read an alphabet book to the toddlers. Then, Chiara asked her to read “Three Billie Goats Gruff” and she agreed to stay and read the story.
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, we will be having a Thanksgiving feast with the Camellia class. The children will prepare all the food. It will not be your “traditional” feast of turkey and stuffing. The children will be making homemade lasagna among other items. Next week we will have the menu completed and each child will be asked to bring in one of the ingredients for the feast. Song of the week:
He's got the whole world in his hands.
She's got the whole world in her hands.
He's got the whole world in his hands.
She's got the whole world in her hands.
He's got you and me brother in his hand.
She's got you and me sister in her hands.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.
CAMELLIA
Thank you to all the parents who came for observations. Remember, after your observation comes the conference. There is a sign-up sheet on the clipboard.
As you no doubt have noticed the weather is getting very cold so please dress your child in warm clothing. The rains have also begun. If your child has rain boots or a raincoat at school please label them. School policy prohibits umbrellas.
Mulberry and Camellia are planning our annual Thanksgiving feast. The children will prepare the meal they will enjoy. Please check for notices regarding your child’s contribution for the feast.
Reminder: November 11, 2005 (Friday) school is closed for Veteran’s Day.
Please continue to encourage your child to bring something for Sound of the Week.
